11.12.2024 01:50
The budget discussions for the year 2025 are ongoing in the General Assembly of the Turkish Grand National Assembly (TBMM). Justice Minister Yılmaz Tunç responded to criticisms of the judiciary system by saying, "If the judiciary system you are criticizing today had been in place on May 27, Adnan Menderes and his friends would not have been hanged."
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The budget discussions for the year 2025 are ongoing in the Grand National Assembly of Turkey (TBMM). Justice Minister Yılmaz Tunç responded to criticisms of the judiciary system by saying, "If this judiciary system you criticize today had been in power on May 27, Adnan Menderes and his friends would not have been hanged. If this judiciary system you dislike had been in power on September 12, 1980, young people would not have been sent to the gallows by increasing their ages, one from the right and one from the left. If this judiciary system had been in power on February 28, no one would have had the courage to drag our top university students wearing headscarves off those podiums."
In the Grand National Assembly of Turkey; the budgets of the TBMM, the Constitutional Court, the Ministry of Justice, and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs for the year 2025 are being discussed. After the speeches of the groups, Justice Minister Yılmaz Tunç summarized his remarks as follows:
"WE HAVE ENDED THE INSTABILITIES CAUSED BY THE PARLIAMENTARY SYSTEM"
"Justice is the foundation of everything and the virtue of humanity. Where there is no justice, there is no peace, there is no tranquility. The guarantee of everyone living peacefully is justice. Justice is giving the rightful their due, and this is only possible with the rule of law. In the last 22 years, our country has made significant progress in strengthening the democratic rule of law and establishing a reliable justice system. During this process, we renewed all our fundamental laws and adapted them to the needs of the age. We implemented significant reforms that reduced the tutelary spirit of the September 12 Constitution with the support of our nation.
By transitioning to the presidential government system, we ended the instabilities caused by the parliamentary system, short-lived coalition governments, and the political crises they caused. We strengthened our Republic and our democracy. By establishing the public ombudsman institution, we created an effective mechanism to investigate the complaints of our citizens regarding the functioning of the administration. By opening the path for individual applications to the Constitutional Court, we provided our citizens the opportunity to seek their rights in their own country. We increased the transparency of public institutions. By ensuring the protection of personal data, we secured the privacy of private life and data security. In addition to these, we implemented new practices to meet the changing and developing needs of society within the framework of the Justice Reform Strategy Document announced every four years.
"AS OF TODAY, THERE ARE A TOTAL OF 11 MILLION 795 THOUSAND CASES IN FRONT OF THE JUDICIARY"
We are also strengthening our court organization. In 2002, there were 3,581 courts in the judiciary, and today we have increased the number of courts to 8,383. Since 2023, we have ensured the establishment of 2,814 new courts where needed to prevent delays in the judiciary. We have increased the number of appellate courts in 15 regions to 17 by establishing the Tekirdağ and Denizli Courthouses this year. We have also increased the number of administrative courts from 7 to 9. As of today, there are a total of 11 million 795 thousand cases in front of the judiciary. Of these, 6.5 million are related to criminal cases. Despite this heavy workload, our judiciary organization has made decisions on a total of 12 million 230 thousand cases throughout the year.
We are very sensitive about ensuring that our children are not harmed in judicial processes. It is important for children who are victims of crime or are being led to crime to receive judicial services in a separate environment from adults to protect their best interests. We are implementing child justice centers to restructure the child justice system with restorative justice.
"WE HAVE COME HERE BY FIGHTING FOR HEADSCARF RIGHTS"
Responding to allegations that individuals detained for protesting President Erdoğan had their headscarves cut in the Marmara Closed Prison, Tunç continued:
"I want to inform you about the allegations regarding the Marmara Closed Women's Penitentiary. The claims that individuals who were detained and then transferred to the Marmara Closed Women's Penitentiary were subjected to ill-treatment are not true. The procedures were carried out in accordance with the relevant articles of the regulations on the execution of penal and security measures upon entry into the institution, and strip searches are absolutely not the case. All practices in prisons are carried out based on respect for privacy and human dignity. In the incident in question, physical and detailed searches were conducted in a manner that would not undermine human dignity, in accordance with international criteria. Items that could pose a threat to personal safety are subject to inspection for security reasons. There is no restriction on headscarves here. Indeed, the detainees have stated this in their declarations. There is misinformation on social media; you need to look at the real statements of those individuals.
We have come here by fighting for headscarf rights. We were prosecuted because we signed for freedom for headscarves. You will not give us lessons on headscarves.
"WE SEE THE NEW CONSTITUTION AS A SOCIAL CONTRACT THAT WILL ESTABLISH OUR DESIRE FOR PEACE AND TRANQUILITY"
The vision of the Century of Turkey is a final perspective that reveals the developments our country is experiencing in every field. The full realization of this perspective will be possible with a new and civil constitution. We see the new constitution as a social contract that will protect our rights and freedoms, establish our common word for living together, and fulfill our desire for peace and tranquility on this land.
It was also stated that our country is ranked low in the rule of law index. Some say that we are 117th in the world in the rule of law index, and in the countries shown above Turkey, there is no democracy, no free elections. This project is an association founded by the former president of the American Bar Association, and there are those who fund it. The donors and those at the top of the list are the same. The more you donate, the higher you rise. No figure related to this has been included in our budget. OECD indices have also come up. The OECD reports have many aspects in favor of Turkey; why are you not bringing these up? It says that we are among the countries that have shown the most progress in providing accessible and quality justice. Why are you ignoring this? The same report states that gender equality in the judiciary has increased by 13 points in ten years.
"YOU ARE MENTIONING REPORTS THAT DO NOT REFLECT TURKEY BY LOOKING AT REPORTS PREPARED AT A DESK"
You are mentioning reports that do not reflect Turkey by looking at reports prepared at a desk. We need to avoid statements that undermine trust in the judiciary. Of course, judicial decisions can be criticized; today there are over 11 million cases. How many cases have been brought to the agenda here? Isn't it a shame to undermine the efforts of our judges and prosecutors who have made decisions on 12 million 230 thousand cases by bringing up cases that could be regulated exceptionally?
If this judiciary system you criticize today had been in power on May 27, Adnan Menderes and his friends would not have been hanged; they would not have gone to the gallows. If this judiciary system you dislike had been in power on September 12, 1980, young people would not have been sent to the gallows by increasing their ages, one from the right and one from the left, and accountability would not have been left for today.
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The judicial system you accused of being neither independent nor impartial would not have allowed our headscarf-wearing university top students to be thrown off those podiums if it had been in power on February 28. The understanding that told the late Menderes, the protector and supporter of the guardians and coup plotters, 'the force that locked you here wants it this way,' would not have allowed any of us to be here today if it had been in power on July 15. Thank goodness this judicial system exists. From now on, the judiciary will not be anyone's backyard.